Don't ask questions like "Can I ask something?", just ask a real question.

Often people new to Chats, Forums etc. ask if they can ask something to get help from a competent and helpful person. But such questions are often ignored or you'll get told that nobody can help you, without knowing the problem. And after such a question there will always be another question.

Pros of such a question

• As polite behaviour to gather attention
• The beginning of a onesided conversation (general problem analysis)

Cons of such a question

• The listening people could be helpful, but they won't claim (out of modesty) to be familiar with the topic
• Often such questions are asked the wrong way, for example someone may ask "can somebody here cook?" if he wants to know if mangos are eatable
• Even if someone is familiar with a the topic, it can be that he doesn't know the answer for a specific question — nobody is all-knowing
• If there is no response to the question, the asker often remains quiet. This way nobody who later pays attention to it can help with the problem.

Examples

• "Can somebody help me?"
• "May I ask a question?"
• "Is anybody here?"
• "I've got a question about…"
• "Can I ask you something?"
• "Does someone know something about…?"
• "Can someone help me with FTP servers?"
• "Is somebody here who is familiar with divorces?"
• "Do you have time?"

This is a rough translation of metafrage.de. If you have ANY suggestions or improvements, send a mail to me@mrzyx.de